VooDoo Envy Ordering Goes Live

Voodoo Computers is the badass gaming arm of HP [NYSE:HPQ], and the company has acquired a considerable cult following. Now it seems the company is trying to leverage that loyalty with its new Envy laptop, which went on sale today. The computer is fully customizable (as gaming machines often are), and so the pricing scheme is variable. That said, any way you cut it, the Envy is a bit of a bank-breaker. The machine's lowest-end configuration starts at $2100 and the top model rings in at around $4000. And while one of the beauties of the Envy is its portability — its ultra-thin design limits its spec list to compact componentry — it's not exactly offering cutting edge speeds or storage space. The low-end model sports a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo chip and an 80GB hard drive. The top end jumps to 1.8GHz, with a 64GB solid state hard drive; that upgrade brings the price to $3400. Then come the "custom finishes," which can add a whopping $500-$600 to the final cost, depending on whether you choose white or flat black.

Unlike most online-configurable machines, you can't simply built your computer to order and be done with the affair. Instead, you have to pick out your specs and then talk to a Voodoo rep, who can give you a "quote" but not a final price. With all the hurdles to jump through — and the vomitously expensive color choice between two boring finishes — it'll be a stroke of luck if Voodoo sees a lot of orders for the Envy. All that trouble might just be enough to drive customers to rival gaming company Alienware, a branch of Dell [NASDAQ:DELL].